By far the first reason I say this great book is the best version of the game is size. It is slim. Total content clocks in at 135 pages in a reliable perfect bound softcover. It deserves a hardcover treatment. In the forward the writers come out swinging with the games strongest pitch, create any power, any ability to build your unique superhero. And this is true. The point-buy system of Champions coupled with the “Special Effects” rule wrapping the whole powers concept championed by the authors has not been superseded by any other supers game I’ve tried. And this is no different through any of the editions of the game, from first to fifth. But I think Hero Games kind of missed the boat here. The Crystal Ship, the flashing gem which really shines through the third edition lens. Through those few pages. And treating the game like it should be: Old-School! What I am talking about and will eventually get to is the utility of the system's damage mechanic.
Now I can swallow fourth edition, it is the last iteration
of the Hero System as Supers-centric game system, and fifth is a travesty. Most
of the additional pages in the fourth are sourcebook stuff which gives the Game
Master some useful features to use again and again, like stats for regular folk.
But the lower page count in the third does not water down the game system at
all and is the perfect set of rules for the GM who needs no assistance in how
to play superhero rpg’s.
Fifth edition is an endless swirling mess around all the
basic mechanical features which make Champions a genius of a supers game. Here
is my case: The game has for a basic resolution mechanic of 11 or less on 3d6
for success. It is like Classic Traveller in this regard. It uses 2d6 with an
8+ needed for success at anything you are trying. The 3d6 bell curve is sweet
though. You get a little more granularity with a bigger spread and I have come
to appreciate the difference between a 9 or less chance and a 7 or less chance
with three die. But what I find intriguing most is the damage system. There isn’t
anyone reading this who doesn’t know how damage is calculated in a Champions
game, total on the die is total stun damage while the number on a dice determines
whether it should be counted as 2 Body, 1 Body or Zero Body. I think this
mechanic is sold short if only used to adjudicate damage. I try to sell it at
the table as a means to resolve contested actions. Take the arm-wrestling
example. Hero A has a Strength or 20, Villain B has a Strength of 20, who wins?
I have the contestants roll their Strength “damage” and count the Body damage.
Highest total wins. With both participants at a Strength of 20
There is a universality across the game system which needs
to be taken advantage of for optimum play. And this is in how, no matter the
power, effect, or type of attack the values and scale never change. This means
a GM can make a “ruling not rules” decision on the fly and if using a “damage”
result from the rolled ability a GM knows it is always to scale. Not
only is it to scale (in other words, fair) it has built in variability. Using
our arm-wrestling example above, either one of the contestants can roll a value
from 0-8. Variability creates tension. This is good. It begs for a player to
figure out how to stack the deck in a fair fight, how to get their roll to be
less swingy. I’m the GM so I don’t have to worry about how that would be
possible, only to rule on it😊
Works for characters of wildly different power scales in any
particular contest. Sure the 60 STR brick should win against the 18 STR martial
artists in an arm-wrestling contest, but it isn’t guaranteed. And the correct
and fair chances of a surprise upset is built into the system. The uncertain
future of any supers action is baked into the damage calc pie. If you want to
add an additional variable you can count the Stun damage as well. No matter how
you interpret the results you can’t come up with a bad interpretation,
but you can have surprising results! This look reveals the transparency inherent
in the system as well. I can match Ego vs. Dex, Energy Blast versus Presence,
any crazy-ass thing. And it will still be at a correct scale that results will
always be an exciting roll while at the same time no one participant getting
nerfed.
Let me take this to my logical extreme, where regular Champions
players cringe in horror. Initiative! The rules for initiative for action
tracked on the Speed Chart are fairly standard. You will find this set up in
many a ttrpg. That is, when opponents square off and they both get to take
action the character with the higher DEX goes first. All-the-time. Chaosium’s
BRP rules have a similar approach to initiative and is even less dynamic. At
least in Champions you have the 12 segment Speed Chart which makes for
unpredictable, yet trackable results and situations. My distaste here is the predictability
of such an accounting in what should be the most unpredictable moment in an
action-adventure game. Here is the set up to illustrate my point; Hero A and Villain
B are going for the doomsday switch in the same segment. They both are equidistant
and have the same SPD but the Hero has a DEX of 30 and the Villain has a 20
DEX. Per the rules as written the Hero is going to win that contest every time.
Every-single-time. Yawn. A smart, clever and good-looking GM will call for a
damage roll based on DEX. Most BODY damage gets to the doomsday switch first!
Hero has a better chance of winning out then the Villain, but it isn’t 100%. Yes,
exciting! I don’t consider this an approach to be used all the time. Only for
really cinematic, pulse-pounding moments in the story. This makes for the
elasticity of the system to really shine. Unfortunately, you will never get
players to accept it. They will run to FRED faster than my Derby pick for the
back of the pack. And that book is proof-positive you can take a great supers
game and fuck it up three ways to Sunday.
